Takeshi Niinami of Suntory Holdings Faces Secret Account Allegations, Responds to Fact-Checking

Commonalities in education and background in the backstage accounts

Takeshi Niinami (66), who resigned as chairman of Suntory Holdings, has become the subject of buzz after an X account with numerous similarities to him was discovered, with people speculating:

“Could this be Niinami’s secret account?”

That account had been posting a series of vulgar and indecent messages.

On September 3, Niinami attended a regular press conference in Tokyo as the representative director of Keizai Doyukai, where he explained the allegations that he had purchased supplements containing illegal substances.

Regarding why he bought the supplements in the United States, he said:

“Because I travel abroad so often, I often suffer from severe jet lag, and a friend who cares about my health strongly recommended them. They were very expensive, and economically it was cheaper in the U.S. than in Japan.”

He completely denied any illegality and asserted his innocence.

Still, considering he was running one of Japan’s top supplement companies, purchasing suspicious CBD supplements derived from cannabis in the U.S. can only be seen as careless.

However, online, separate from the cannabis allegations, Niinami has been drawing attention for something else.

“An X account (hereafter, Account A) is rumored to be Niinami’s secret account. I won’t reveal the account name, but it seemed to be a play on the name ‘Niinami.’ As people dug up its past posts, they found many biographical similarities with Niinami. More than that, there were vulgar sexual jokes and eccentric posts. And the fact that the account was suddenly deleted on September 2 — the same day Suntory Holdings held the resignation press conference — further fueled the ‘secret account’ theory,” said a sports newspaper reporter.

The account in question, “Account A,” left this message before disappearing from X:

“This is a sudden announcement, but this account will be closed as of today. I sincerely appreciate all the interactions on X. Thank you very much for viewing until now.”

Just what kind of content had it been posting?

First, regarding the point that his background seems similar, some of the unearthed posts include:

“I’m embarrassed to say this, but I really was raised in a greenhouse-like environment — a super refined young noble, a pampered and polished rich boy, a Keio University boy from a wealthy and distinguished family.”

“I know a lot about Mitsubishi Corporation being in the news — after all, I joined Mitsubishi as a new graduate.”

“Life is finite, you know. Sometimes you can’t do everything. I wanted to get an Master of Business Administration, but I also had to care for my family. It’s one or the other. I wanted to cram in so many different experiences that it felt almost impossible — but I managed to do it.”

When asked about it, Keizai Doyukai, where Takeshi Niinami serves as representative director, said—

“Mr. Takeshi Niinami’s father ran a stevedoring company at Port of Yokohama and was wealthy. Mr. Niinami himself graduated from Keio University, joined Mitsubishi Corporation, and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. This matches perfectly with the content of Account A. Furthermore, Mr. Niinami had advocated introducing a mandatory retirement age of 45, and if you search, the keyword ‘45 years old’ comes up often,” said a web writer who had been monitoring the account.

In addition, on the topic of women, it posted:

“I really enjoyed transfers. I could go alone and spread my wings, played around with young women, partied all night, and even ended up having kids all over the place. Those carefree days as a transferred salaryman were really great. Good memories.”

It even hinted at the existence of secret children.

Besides that, the account was full of shockingly vulgar sexual jokes, and if this really were Mr. Niinami’s secret account, it would be astonishing. Of course, there is naturally the possibility it is a completely different person.

Therefore, this site contacted Keizai Doyukai, where Mr. Niinami serves as representative director, to ask if the rumored secret account belonged to him, and received the response:

“As for your inquiry, Keizai Doyukai does not know of or manage it, and therefore cannot confirm it.”

Mr. Niinami has resigned as chairman of Suntory Holdings. Including this secret account uproar, his future moves will be closely watched.